Skulduggery Pleasant
The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 1
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
Fiction, MG Adventure/Fantasy/Humor/Mystery
Themes: Cross-Genre, Ghosts and Spirits, Girl Power, Hidden Wonders, Magic Workers, Urban Tales, Vampires and the Undead
****+
Description
When popular horror writer Gordon Edgely died, the relative who misses him the most is his twelve-year-old niece Stephanie... but even she never expected to inherit the vast majority of his estate. Soon, it becomes apparent that she inherited more than his house and future royalties: she also inherited enemies she knew nothing about - and an ally she never expected, when she's saved by the living, walking skeleton named Skulduggery Pleasant. A detective by trade, Pleasant was a close friend of her eccentric uncle, whose books were inspired by the hidden world of adepts and sorcerers and other magical beasts and beings amongst humanity. One of those sorcerers apparently got it into his head that Gordon knew something about a long-lost artifact, a scepter with ties to elder gods long cast out of this world, and that sorcerer is convinced that he left the key to finding that scepter with his heir. Though Stephanie knows of no such key, her denial won't stop the man's monstrous servants from torturing her and killing her very, very dead - unless she and Skulduggery Pleasant can unravel the mystery themselves and beat the villain Serpine to the scepter.
Review
I've heard of this series now and again, and I see it go through the library shipping center on a reasonably regular basis,
but for some reason it never made it onto the reading list until now. Whatever I was expecting, what I found was a highly
enjoyable, often witty magical adventure with a strong heroine and one of the most fun characters - the titular Skulduggery
Pleasant - I've read since Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus the djinn.
The tale starts not unlike several other middle grade fantasy/adventure stories, with a relative's death and an unexpected
inheritance, followed by the revelation of a magical "world". Unlike many of those stories, Stephanie actually has a supportive
family, if one unaware of the existence of magic; to them, Uncle Gordon was just considered eccentric, possibly a touch
delusional, and kept strange, potentially dangerous company. But family isn't going to help the girl survive henchmen who can be
lit on fire and barely get singed... and Stephanie, who has always been encouraged to find her own path in life (for all that
Mom and Dad couldn't possibly have anticipated this particular path), realizes early on that she doesn't want them to help her
in this anyway. This is her path, her adventure, her destiny, and if she can't manage it without them
then she doesn't deserve it at all. The magical world's dangers are apparent even before she realizes it's magic going on, but
something about it calls to her despite the risks. For his part, Skulduggery Pleasant sees enough potential in her that his
attempts to sideline her in the dangerous investigation are minimal; if she isn't put off by being chased through the night by a
monstrous killer, there's not much that'll turn her aside, though he is never anything but honest with her about what's ahead
and the risks of mingling with magicians.
The hidden world of mages has less in common with Hogwarts or the Ministry of Magic and more with adult urban fantasies, or
Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch: magicians are an insular community, eccentric but also potentially dangerous, and nothing
is bubble-wrapped or blunted for the sake of newbies of any age. Stephanie gets a trial by fire (literally, at times) as she
steps into this world, where it's often hard to tell friend from foe (and the same person can be both in different circumstances)
and where the stakes are life and death, not just for her but for the world at large if Serpine gets his hands on the scepter.
There are shades of/nods to Lovecraft around the edges, with ancient races and "Faceless Ones" who once ruled in chaos and
darkness. Through it all, Skulduggery Pleasant is a steadfast, clever-tongued presence, though one with his own agenda. Despite
her age and inexperience, Stephanie makes a solid partner for him, and generally doesn't do stupid things for the sake of being
stupid (or for the sake of plot).
The story moves quickly from the start, with a significant bruise and body count by the time it reaches the climax. Part of me
almost wonders if Skulduggery Pleasant was originally intended to be the Harry Dresden-like star of his own grown-up fantasy
series; I'm almost certain he could've carried one. Still, he works very good here, and Stephanie steps up to her role and future
rather than stooping down to it, if that makes any sense; again, there were times I almost wondered if her age was rolled back a
bit, maybe for marketing purposes. In any event, I greatly enjoyed this story and am looking forward to continuing the series.